Here’s the message from RDML Pearigen, Chief of the Medical Corps, about the NAVADMIN:

Fellow Medical Corps officers:

I am writing to tell you a little more about the Selective Early Retirement
board described in the attached NAVADMIN just released. This is
particularly relevant for O-6 and O-5 officers, and I ask that you read the
below and the associated NAVADMIN carefully to understand and, importantly,
to ensure you have accurate perspective on this.

As part of Navy’s efforts to sharpen a high performing and talented senior
officer corps, this NAVADMIN announces convening of Selective Early
Retirement (SER) boards for OFFICERS this September for the FY-19 cycle.
Importantly, these SER boards are being conducted for specific reasons and
are different from the last time this was done in the Navy, the FY-12
Unrestricted Line (URL) SER board held in 2011.

Convening officer SER boards to review the records of senior O-5s and O-6s
under this new construct is the same sort of review the Navy routinely
conducts for our Chief Petty Officers via the Senior Enlisted Continuation
Boards. It is intended to ensure that the senior officers leading our Navy
are in fact performing at the level expected of their current paygrade.

Why now, when we are trying to grow the Navy the Nation Needs? Now, more
than ever, we need leaders with both the character and competence to lead
our Navy, and Navy Medicine. Previously, the authority to conduct such a
review had only been available as a force reduction measure. THIS ITERATION
IS NOT BEING PERFORMED WITH ANY FORCE REDUCTION TARGET.

In contrast to the FY-12 SER board (which again only affected URLs, not
Staff Corps), selection quotas for the FY-19 SER board will not be
directed-i.e., there is NO minimum quota to be met-as the purpose is not to
remove excess officers from inventory. Selecting zero officers for early
retirement is an acceptable outcome, and may very well be the result we see
for communities where all eligible officers are performing at the level
expected for their paygrade.

Unlike the FY-12 board which just considered the URL, all competitive
categories (URL/RL/Staff) will be looked at-the quality standard applies
across the entire officer corps.

The O-5 boards will consider officers with two or more failures of selection
to O-6, and the O-6 boards will consider officers with three or more years’
time in grade. **Failures of selection in and of themselves are NOT grounds
for early retirement-we have many officers in that situation who work hard
and provide valuable contributions to our Navy and to Navy Medicine. The
boards will be provided with very specific guidance from SECNAV that average
performance is fine, but taking the pack off is not.

CNP strongly recommends that officers who are performing at or above
standards should not pre-emptively submit retirement requests. Officers who
might have been disadvantaged by the forced distribution system of today’s
FITREP are not the target of this SER board, if they are still performing.
The board will not be looking at PFA failures, nor it is designed to replace
a Show Cause determination or a Board of Inquiry, but they will look at
disciplinary issues in the context of the entire documented record.

The numbers of Medical Corps officers selected for early retirement are
expected to be small, perhaps even zero. Only those who are not performing
will be selected for early retirement. Those selected for early retirement
will retire in grade, with full benefits, as if it were voluntary. So the
best strategy for those who know they are performing-have confidence in your
performance record, and in the board process.

Finally, the vast majority of you are performing exceptionally well as Navy
physicians and officers, and we know that. More importantly, I appreciate
your performance and your service. Be confident in your performance, your
competence and your character.